Bedfordshire Regiment attributable cap badge
 

I was lucky enough to be able to purchase this K.C. Bedfordshire Regiment cap badge from a fellow forum member. I have one in my collection but I was drawn to this one as it had a name scratched into the slider and, I thought that it might just be possible to identify the original owner.

The name on the slider appears to read DANN and what follows comes to nothing if it actually reads DANNY.

Given that this badge was worn for a period roughly between 1902 and 1919 when the Regiment amalgamated with the Hertfordshire Regiment, there can only have been a limited number of soldiers with the surname Dann who could have worn this badge. A quick search of the Great War Medal Index Cards reveals that four men with this surname served overseas during the Great War. A search of the Soldier's service papers reveals that a fifth soldier served in the regiment during this period but not overseas during the Great War.

Two of these five men can be ruled out as they were officers.

Lt Ernest Dann, was killed on the 22nd November 1915 whilst serving with the 6th battalion Bedfordshire Regiment

Lt-Col W.R.H. Dann, D.S.O. served with the 8th battalion and was wounded with a G.S.W. in the leg in 1915.

Both of these officers would have worn O.S.D. cap badges.

Of the three remaining candidates, I will start with 8826 Pte Henry Dann who did not serve overseas with the Bedfordshire Regiment during the Great War.

He was born in 1884 at Cottenham in Cambridgeshire and would have been 30 years old in 1914. Still young enough to serve and probably a reservist. Only the first page of his service papers seems to have survived and the enlistment date is not recorded. What remains does mention serving His Majesty so it must have been a Post 1901 enlistment. Given that his age was stated as 22 years, 5 Months and that his date of birth was listed as 1884 it must have been a 1906/07 enlistment.

Henry James Dann's birth was registered in Chesterton, which covers the Cottenham area in the December quarter of 1884, his marriage to Harriet J Young was also recorded in Chesterton in the June quarter of 1914. His death, at the age of 76, was registered in Cambridge in 1960.

I think that as a regular soldier, Henry Dann was probably the most likely to have scratched his name onto the slider of his cap badge.

Pte 23870 Harry Dann is another possible candidate. There are five Harry Dunns born between 1888 an 1999 who may be this soldier but as his service papers have not survived, i cannot yet narrow it down to one individual. Either way, he survived the Great War and very possibly kepy his cap badge as a souvenir.

From CWGC :

Private
DANN, SIDNEY WALTER
Service Number 40239

Died 20/11/1917

Aged 20

8th Bn.
Bedfordshire Regiment

Son of Alfred Dann, of 113, Bull Close Rd., Norwich, and the late Maria Dann.


Buried - RIBECOURT BRITISH CEMETERY

The last candidate is Pte Sydney William Dunn, born in Norwich, Norfolk in 1885. He enlisted in the 5th battalion Norfolk Regiment with the Regimental Number, 5/5512 before transferring to the 8th battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment with the Regimental Number 40239. Sadly he died of wounds on the 20th November 1917 and is buried in the Ribecourt British Cemetery, Nord, France.

There is a small chance that his cap badge was returned to his family along with his possessions, but I think that it is unlikely.


https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/c...sidney-walter/

If the cap badge did belong to 8826 Pte Henry Dann, it may have survived because he transferred to the Military Foot Police as P1200, rising to the rank of C.S.M. His address is given as Histon Road, Cottenham.

I would be careful about placing Sydney Dann in the unlikely category. In my Accrington Pals research I discovered Walter Holmes gifted his original cap badge to his father a few weeks/months after it was issued, it remains unaltered i.e. no sweetheart pin conversion to this day.

So he may well have been issued more than one cap badge or paid for a replacement before he DOW in 1917.

It is very unlikely that I will ever know exactly who the badge belonged to, but I did ask the seller if he remembered where he had bought the badge and I am sure that he won't mind me posting his reply.

"To be honest I don't know where it came from exactly, I have quite a few Bedfordshire Regt items, but I'd say it was locally bought, probably among a job lot at auction. I will look through my files as I only buy locally so it emanated from the Cambridgeshire/Hertfordshire/Bedfordshire area".


I am leaning towards the badge having belonged to 8826 Pte Henry Dann, because of the Cottenham, Cambridgeshire connection. I am hoping that the forum member also has a Military Foot Police cap badge with the same name scratched on the slider as this will confirm my theory. :)

Good luck with your hunt , maybe it does have a Cambridgeshire connection but it could also have passed through numerous dealer/collector hand before ending up in yours. ;)

Indeed. I am regarding it as a useful exercise in lateral thinking rather than seeking a definitive answer. But maybe, just maybe, the seller bought it at a local auction. He doesn't live a million miles from Cottenham.

Certainly still a pleasing badge without any speculation as to it's original wearer.

What is the current thinking on the bulled away cross detail which is common on Bedfordshire badges? Regards, Paul.

I think it’s just to get a shine. Clearly the Sergeant Major demanded high standards. The seeding is a lot harder to clean and get a good shine on, plus the crevices hold polish and muck.

I have received the following information from the seller.

"I have been through my files and bear in mind they go back a long way. All items bought in the Cambridge area.

There is one Bedfordshire Regt. cap badge bought 20.6.2015 along with a small collection of Essex cap badges all WWI era and some books.

The other Bedfordshire Regt. cap badge was bought along with a Military Police EviiR cap badge and a Military Police GvR cap badge, MFP shoulder titles a pair of Bedfordshire Regt collar badges.

Other items were a small brooched NFS badge, a Loyal Order of ancient shepherds pin back badge,
a Wildwood badge no 149 and a Coronation badge for EviiR.

I think the Wildwood badge could clinch it for you as it's numbered.

I don't think I noticed the DANN when I wrote down the items, but I hope this helps. I forgot to say I bought it 23rd May 2009 at Willingham, only Rampton is between it and Cottenham, so I'd say it was the guy from Cottenham".

I think that this confirms the original ownership of the cap badge. It occurs to me that this is one of those rare occasions when we can date the exact period an individual cap badge was worn. In this case, from Henry Dann's enlistment in the Bedfordshire Regiment, 1st January 1907 until his transfer to the Military Foot Police on the 5th August 1912.

I really appreciate Rob's help with this research and applaud his meticulous record keeping.